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A Queensland man has been found not guilty of refusing to unlock his phone for police after a magistrate found it would have violated his Islamic religious beliefs.
Humza Ali Ahmed, of Kuraby in Brisbane's outer south, faced trial at Beenleigh Magistrates Court on one count of contravening an order about device information from a digital device.
Police executed a search warrant at Mr Ahmed's residence at 9.20am on July 11, 2022.
The warrant contained an order for the provision of access information to any digital device located in the defendant's possession, or to which he had access.
Mr Ahmed told police the reason he would not provide them with his pass code was because there were "personal things" contained on the phone.
During the trial, Mr Ahmed testified the phone contained photographs of his wife without wearing a hijab and messages between them and the disclosure of either to men who were not family members was against his genuine religious beliefs.
Mr Ahmed conceded he did not fully explain his refusal to the police officers because he wanted to speak to his lawyer first, but said he would have accepted a female officer examining the contents of his phone.
In a decision published on Thursday, Magistrate Patrina Clohessy accepted Mr Ahmed was "a devout follower of the Islamic faith" and the officers conducting the search had incorrectly told Ahmed he could legally refuse to hand over the pass code without a reason.
"I am satisfied that the circumstances objectively raised a reasonable excuse, particularly when regard is had to the fact that the investigating police were obliged to give proper consideration to, and act compatibly with, human rights," Ms Clohessy said.
The charge was dismissed and Mr Ahmed was discharged from the trial.
